For NFL pros, golf more than just a passing fad

Sights and sounds from Spyglass Hill, where Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald played in Thursday's first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Video: SFChronicle

PEBBLE BEACH — Now it can be told: Aaron Rodgers got cut when he tried out as a sophomore for his Pleasant Valley High School team in Chico.

That’s golf, not football.

Rodgers responded to the snub by frequently and fervently working on his game the next summer. He started posting scores in the 80s, even the 70s a few times, and planted the seeds for a passionate hobby later in life.

All these years later, Rodgers annually sets aside football to play in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He doesn’t totally escape: One spectator outside the house alongside No. 5 at Spyglass Hill — wearing a No. 12 Packers jersey, of course — tossed Rodgers a football Thursday, and he dutifully fired a pass back.

This is part of the distinctive fabric of the AT&T, athletes from other sports cavorting with PGA Tour pros during competition. Rodgers and Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, two future Pro Football Hall of Famers, formed the headline tandem during a sun-splashed opening round on the Monterey Peninsula.

For NFL pros, golf more than just a passing fad

1of3Aaron Rodgers with his chip shot on the 1st hole at the Spyglass Hill course during round 1 of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif., seen on Thursday Feb. 8, 2018.Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle

2of3Larry Fitzgerald, (left) and Aaron Rodgers on the 1st hole at the Spyglass Hill course during round 1 of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif., seen on Thursday Feb. 8, 2018.Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

3of3Aaron Rodgers with a little body english as he watches his third shot on the 1st hole at the Spyglass Hill course during round 1 of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif., seen on Thursday Feb. 8, 2018.Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Another group featured former 49ers quarterbacks Steve Young and Alex Smith. Former Dallas quarterback Tony Romo also played, as did Houston pitcher Justin Verlander. New England quarterback Tom Brady and his head coach, Bill Belichick, teed off in previous years, and so did Giants catcher Buster Posey.

None of them, aside from Romo (a scratch player), harbors illusions of grandeur. Rodgers carries a 9-handicap and Fitzgerald plays to a 13, and they occasionally dribble unsightly groundballs off the tee just like any ordinary municipal-course duffer.

But they crave this offseason outlet, even if it sometimes includes a moment of sporting humiliation.

“We love to compete,” Rodgers said. “For the guys who are serious about their golf, this is a great event. You’re playing with the pros and you’re playing incredible courses. And every now and then, when the weather is like this, it’s a week to remember.”

Given his Northern California roots, Rodgers naturally drew lots of reaction from the gallery on his journey around Spyglass. He heard “Go Bears!” from Cal fans and “Go Packers!” and “Go Badgers!” from those with Wisconsin allegiances.

Then there was the spectator between the No. 11 green and No. 12 tee, showing impressive knowledge of Rodgers’ community college path: “Do it for Butte! Butte took you first!”

Rodgers played with journeyman pro Jerry Kelly, a Wisconsin native. Fitzgerald teamed with Kevin Streelman, a friend from Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., where they routinely zoom around the course in 2½ hours.

Streelman grew up near Chicago and remains a loyal Bears fan, so he greeted Rodgers by lamenting Green Bay’s dominance in the storied rivalry over the past decade. Rodgers winked, as if he has no plans to relent.

Streelman — who shot 7-under-par 65 to seize a share of the first-round lead — knows how much Rodgers and Fitzgerald savor this week. Fitzgerald picked up the game only four or five years ago, but he probably plays more golf than Streelman does.

“This is like the Holy Grail for those guys,” Streelman said.

Fitzgerald doesn’t begin to hide his obsession, or his desire to improve. He’s a large man (6-foot-3, 225 pounds), and the golf ball obediently hops off his club face with power and fury.

That doesn’t mean Fitzgerald hit crazy-long drives Thursday, because he repeatedly used an iron off the tee. He can’t control his driver and 3-wood, so he happily settled for 230-yard 5-iron shots.

Then, afterward, he contemplated the striking contrast between his job and his hobby.

“Football is just reactionary — I see the ball and I catch it,” Fitzgerald said. “I see guys and I try to make them miss. It just happens, you don’t have time to think about it.

“In golf, you have to think about everything: The ball is below my feet. The wind is left to right. The pin is back right. It’s definitely the hardest game I’ve ever played.”

Ron Kroichick has worked at the San Francisco Chronicle since 1995, when he came from the Sacramento Bee. He is the paper’s golf columnist, covering the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, all major championships in Northern California (including the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach) and writing a weekly column on the game’s personalities and trends. He also writes features on the Warriors during NBA season, and on various other topics – ranging from major-league baseball and the NFL to college football and basketball – the rest of the year.